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April 2014 Meeting Minutes

Cayuga Bird Club Meeting Minutes April 14, 2014

President Paul Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. He thanked Erica Evans and Sara Jane Hymes for bringing cookies and enlisted Laura Stenzler and Linda Orkin to provide them for the meeting next month. He welcomed newcomers and asked people to share interesting recent bird sightings. These included Louisiana Waterthrush, Golden Eagle, Broadwing Hawks, and Mallards in the heron nest. Paul thanked the 12 club members who came to help with the Stewart Park cleanup. Evidence of progress was in the 20 bags of garbage collected this year compared to 40 for last year.

May 12: Cayuga Bird Club meeting. “Fuertes Revisited: A Bird Artist in His Setting,” Mia Boynton

There were two field trips since the last meeting:

March 22: Meena Haribal led six people up the lake. Highlights included huge flocks of Snow Geese and Tundra Swans.

April 13: Suan Yong led 10 people to Dryden Lake where they saw Osprey, phoebes, wigeon, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Virginia Rail, and Ruffed Grouse.

There are three field trips planned:

April 26: Gladys Birdsall, Half-day trip, Meet at the north parking lot of the lab.

May 3: Linda Orkin and Becky Hansen, Half-day trip.

May 10: Paul Anderson, 3/4 day to Lindsay Parsons Reserve.

As always, please check the website for other events or changes.

Candace Cornell reported on the Conservation Action Committee’s project on campus concerning bird window collisions. She asked for volunteers to help with tallying.

Donna Scott called for volunteers to help with our sponsoring of the September NYSOA meeting. She passed around sign-up sheets.

The method of handling the club budget was discussed. We will specify the budget at the beginning of the fiscal year and vote on the proposed budget. Members receive budget information via email. A loss for this year was due to the panel for Renwick Park and the allowance for getting more books printed. The money for the books is expected to be recouped by sales, and there was an error in the budget. The amount set aside for the Conservation Action Committee should be $500.

Some changes to the by-laws of the club were suggested. There are three steps to making changes. First, they are presented at a meeting. Next, they appear in the newsletter. Then, they are voted upon at a meeting. There was some discussion about the wording of the changes and also a question about how a quorum for voting is determined. All information relating to the by-laws will be posted in the administrative section of the bird club website.

Chris Pelkie read the list of the birds of the Cayuga Basin.

John Confer was the speaker for the evening. He spoke about his work with Saw-whet owls. He also mentioned how grateful he was for his long association with the Cayuga Bird Club and how it had changed his career.